Who Doesn't Like My Soft, Creamy Balls?
Sunday 6/1/2013
Back to Feeding The Five
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Diary and Notes
Today we have some friends for dinner – we are cooking them in a flavoursome Italian broth.
My friend Laurie (44 - I think) may be a little tough and require a slow stew, but his
two children: Riley (8) and Edie (6) should be fine for a quick poaching in liquor.
A fine Chianti and some fava beans should of course accompany such a feast.
It’s Sunday and that means a tasty roast dinner. However, poor old Jonny bean has been
informed by the masses that his normal Sunday roast of meat and potatoes is off.
Everyone is fed up with roast potatoes after the Christmas bingeing and they want
something different. I’ll have to be sneaky.
My chums are usually excellent guests as they are always eager to try something new.
Somehow Laurie’s children are much braver than mine and Edie in particular is always
a particular joy to cook for. The last time she stayed overnight for a sleepover,
she managed to eat three rashers of bacon, a boiled egg, some cereal, a selection of
fruit and some toast for breakfast – and then asked if she could have another boiled
egg! She even ate the whites which my little horrors wont even allow to get on their
soldiers for fear of contracting the plague or similar.
I need some serious parenting lessons.
So what did we do for today’s dinner? Well I was in the mood for meat – meat and potatoes.
So I had a quick think, consulted a cookbook or two and came up with the idea of
Knödel. I’ve never cooked these before, nor have I ever eaten them. I did spend
some time in Germany a few years back and this is where I heard of them, but they were,
up until now, the undiscovered country.
I got my recipe from (Bavarian Kitchen,)
but didn’t stuff them with anything. Also, as I had a lot of chicken stock ready I
poached them in this instead of water. This gave them a great flavour but did ruin the
stock as some of the potato dissolved into it. I should have served this as a chicken
and potato soup starter but only just thought of this now.
As I had loads of stock I also used some to poach the carrots, to add flavour to the
cabbage and to make some sauce. In addition there was meat – and some sausages. What
a truly excellent cuisine German food is, hearty, nutritious and bursting with porky
juicyness.
Oh and I have no idea where to get real rötwürst in Manchester so I used a
Matteson’s smoked pork ring instead – delicious.
Edie was first to try a knödel and said "they taste like potato".
I said "Do you like them."
She said "Yes." and then proceeded to eat two, along with meat, sausage and veg. She didn't like the cabbage though,
said it had burned bits. Bloody critics.
Check out those soft creamy balls in my photo and have a go yourself.
For desert we had a selection of cakes (stollen, lebküchen, Christmas and Dundee cake), along with some pickled
cherries and marscapone cheese.
Tchuse.
Oh and as Laurie brought a present for Eve (it was her birthday a week ago) which was far too much
fun to resist I couldn't get either of my two to stay very long at the table. They had a nibble though.
As I said, I desperately need some parenting lessons.
Menu
Roast Pork Loin
Bratwürst
Rötwürst
Knödel
Carrots
Savoy Cabbage
Sauce
Preparation
No actual recipe today as the Knödel can be found on the link above and the rest is pretty straightforward.
Rub a bit of salt on the top of the pork loin and cook on 220c for 10 mins then turn down and roast for 1 hour (the
joint wasn't very big). The sausage I fried a little and finished in the oven. The carrots were poached in chicken stock,
the cabbage I shredded and fried in a little butter then added some stock and left to rest with the lid on for 3 mins. The
sauce was the meat juice, some flour, chicken stock, salt and pepper.
Today’s Ratings:
Isis: Pork, sausages, - yum. Rest - yuk.
Eve: Yuk all round.
Olias: Absolutely loved the sausages. Ate some carrot and Knödel too.
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JCBorresen@GMail.com